Two stores to be added to Lowe’s property

Published: Wednesday, June 5, 2013 at 04:12 PM.

FORT WALTON BEACH — It may seem like an odd combination, but a building under construction in the Lowe’s parking lot will house a mattress store and an eyewear retailer.

Eyeglass World, a store that sells contact lenses and hundreds of frames for prescription glasses, and the Mattress Firm, one of the nation’s largest bedding companies, will split the 9,000-square-foot building in the northeast corner of the parking lot on Beal Parkway. Each store will use half of the building.

“(Fort Walton Beach is) definitely an area we’ve scoped out,” said Tammy Friedeck, communications coordinator with Mattress Firm. “We’ve been slowly moving into the Florida Panhandle area. It was a logical next step for us.”

Representatives from Eyeglass World did not return messages seeking comment.

United Growth, a California-based real estate developer, started construction on the building in late March. Work is scheduled to wrap up in mid-July and the stores are tentatively expected to open in early August.

“That’s an area we’re always looking at,” said Zeden Jones, project manager with United Growth. “We have a few other things in the works (for Northwest Florida).”

United Growth previously built a Mattress Firm/Eyeglass World building in Lakeland. Neither Jones nor Friedeck knew how long the two companies had partnered on buildings.

This will be the second Mattress Firm to open in Okaloosa County this year. The first one opened in Destin at the end of April.

The closest Eyeglass World is in Pensacola.

Mattress Firm will feature more than 55 mattress models from manufacturers such as Tempur-Pedic, Sealy and Serta.

Contact Daily News Business Editor Dusty Ricketts at 850-315-4448 or dricketts@nwfdailynews.com. Follow him on Twitter @DustyRnwfdn.

Reader comments posted to this article may be published in our print edition. All rights reserved. This copyrighted material may not be re-published
without permission. Links are encouraged.

FORT WALTON BEACH — It may seem like an odd combination, but a building under construction in the Lowe’s parking lot will house a mattress store and an eyewear retailer.

Eyeglass World, a store that sells contact lenses and hundreds of frames for prescription glasses, and the Mattress Firm, one of the nation’s largest bedding companies, will split the 9,000-square-foot building in the northeast corner of the parking lot on Beal Parkway. Each store will use half of the building.

“(Fort Walton Beach is) definitely an area we’ve scoped out,” said Tammy Friedeck, communications coordinator with Mattress Firm. “We’ve been slowly moving into the Florida Panhandle area. It was a logical next step for us.”

Representatives from Eyeglass World did not return messages seeking comment.

United Growth, a California-based real estate developer, started construction on the building in late March. Work is scheduled to wrap up in mid-July and the stores are tentatively expected to open in early August.

“That’s an area we’re always looking at,” said Zeden Jones, project manager with United Growth. “We have a few other things in the works (for Northwest Florida).”

United Growth previously built a Mattress Firm/Eyeglass World building in Lakeland. Neither Jones nor Friedeck knew how long the two companies had partnered on buildings.

This will be the second Mattress Firm to open in Okaloosa County this year. The first one opened in Destin at the end of April.

The closest Eyeglass World is in Pensacola.

Mattress Firm will feature more than 55 mattress models from manufacturers such as Tempur-Pedic, Sealy and Serta.

Contact Daily News Business Editor Dusty Ricketts at 850-315-4448 or dricketts@nwfdailynews.com. Follow him on Twitter @DustyRnwfdn.